January 9, 2024

Emerging Trends in Trade Show Design and Fabrication

The more time I spend with ChatGPT, the more I understand its usefulness. For instance, if you ask it to identify new market trends in any market and what to expect in the coming year, it’ll do a quick research online in real-time and gather up oodles of information, present them in easy-to-digest bullet points, and include the links to its research. Here’s the prompt I used:

“Act as a market research analyst. Analyze the latest trends in the trade show exhibit design and fabrication market. Include key players, emerging technologies, and consumer preferences. Present the findings in a report format with bullet points for clarity.”

Experiential Setups: Exhibitors are focusing on creating immersive experiences, much like those seen in theme parks, where attendees are fully enveloped in the product or brand environment. This trend is about making a memorable impact on the trade show floor by utilizing innovative designs and engaging elements【17†source】.

Lounge Areas: There is a shift towards creating more comfortable, homelike spaces within trade show booths. This approach aims to foster a relaxed atmosphere conducive to natural conversations and collaborations, moving away from traditional office-like settings【18†source】.

Next-Gen Technologies: Digital twins, holograms, and 3D content are becoming increasingly popular. These technologies offer new ways to showcase products and engage attendees, from realistic digital representations to interactive 3D visuals【18†source】.

Overhead Structures and Channel Lit Logos: A move towards overhead elements in booth design is observed, creating more open, spacious, and navigable spaces. Additionally, channel-lit logos and letters are gaining popularity for their visual impact compared to traditional banners【18†source】.

A tradeshow exhibit with purple and red lighting

Consumer Preferences and Market Dynamics

Multi-Sensory Designs: Engaging multiple senses is crucial, with elements like video walls, interactive cutouts, and virtual reality stations becoming common. These features not only attract visitors but also provide a memorable experience【25†source】.

Natural Themes: Incorporating natural elements such as living plants, reclaimed wood, and stone-like flooring helps create a more inviting and distinct space amidst the usual trade show environment【25†source】.

Interactive Data Visualization: Moving beyond spreadsheets, exhibitors are now focusing on visually appealing and easily understandable ways to display valuable data and information【21†source】.

Virtual Environments: While not fully embracing concepts like the metaverse, there’s a trend toward creating virtual environments that are more accessible and relevant to the everyday consumer【21†source】.

A futuristic trade show? — A futuristic tradeshow with space people as imagined by ChatGPT.

Industry Insights

Increased Industry Participation: With a low barrier to entry, the events industry is seeing a rise in new business entities and job opportunities. The profit margin for the industry is expected to be over 6% in the coming years【20†source】.

Mergers and Acquisitions: Big industry trade shows are expanding through mergers and acquisitions, making them even larger and more influential【20†source】.

Sustainability and Diversity: There’s a growing emphasis on sustainability and diversity in the trade show industry, with exhibitors and organizers seeking to be more responsible and inclusive【22†source】.

In conclusion, the trade show exhibit design and fabrication market in 2023 is marked by a blend of innovative technological solutions and a shift towards more natural, engaging, and immersive environments. The industry is adapting to new consumer preferences, focusing on creating memorable and interactive experiences and emphasizing sustainability and diversity.

July 4, 2021

Eco-Smart Sustainable Tradeshow Exhibits via TradeshowGuy Exhibits

Not only do exhibitors care about the environment, but they also want to have exhibits fabricated in an eco-friendly way – AND let their clientele know about their commitment to the environment.

That’s why here at TradeshowGuy Exhibits, we’ve partnered with Eco-Systems Sustainable Exhibits for years. Many of our clients have requested eco-friendly exhibits, and we thought we should share this friendly and informative video to show you exactly what an ex-friendly exhibit is all about:

Find our selection of Eco-Systems exhibits here at TradeshowBuy.com.

And check the latest sell sheets (click to enlarge; then right-click to save):

June 6, 2021

Symphony Portable Display Means No-Tool Elegance

Here at TradeshowGuy Exhibits, we’ve worked with Classic Exhibits in Portland as our main fabricator for many years and they continually impress us with their skill and creativity. Last year at the beginning of the pandemic lockdown, they posted a thorough look at the Symphony No Tools Portable Display, going through each element one at a time. It’s a great look at an elegantly functional portable display:

Click to go straight to our **Symphony Portable Display Selection**!

April 28, 2021

Tradeshow Exhibit Configuration is Fluid

Do you set up the exact same booth every year with no changes? Or do you find that you have to make minor or even significant changes from year to year because your needs change or some piece of your exhibit doesn’t function the way you thought it would?

Many exhibitors stay the same, but many change. Frequently.

Let’s say at one show – a big one that you set up an exhibit at every single year – you have had nearly the same configuration for five or six years. That’s not unusual. Although, in my experience, most clients we work with at TradeshowGuy Exhibits do at least modest changes nearly every year. Sometimes they do rather wholesale changes, like increasing their footprint by 50% or more. Or realizing at this year’s show they don’t have enough meeting space. Or product display space. Or that some element of the exhibit just didn’t work as anticipated.

There are always reasons for making changes. But if you purchased the exhibit, you’re kind of stuck with it.

Rental furniture adds a nice touch without a big commitment

Except. Not always. There are always a lot of ways to skin the cat, as it were. Let’s say – like a client of ours recently – you have a custom booth. You spent a lot of dough on it, so the idea of building another piece just to satisfy your functional needs is going to challenge your budget. When this happened to the client, who was looking for more counter space, we suggested that instead of having some custom counters built, why not rent some counters? That way, you’re only committed to one show with the revised configuration, and the cost will be lower than if you had them custom-built and bought them. And if for some reason you really like the configuration, you can either purchase them or choose to rent them again the following year. I see it happen frequently.

Same thing with furniture. It used to be that clients would ship furniture to shows in their crates. Chairs, small loveseats, tables. In some cases, that’s a good thing, especially if the table is branded or is custom in some other way like LED highlights.

But the furniture is unused the rest of the year. It can get scuffed and damaged during setup and dismantle. Renting the right pieces, such as a nice brand-new comfortable couch might make more sense. Do the math, take a look at the options, and make the decision.

It’s all fluid. Especially when it comes to the various smaller elements of your tradeshow exhibit: counters, furniture, product display units and more. Talk with your exhibit house rep or coordinator and see what options you might have that can both save you money and give you an upgrade on looks and function. It’s doable. Because it’s fluid.

December 22, 2020

Tradeshow Exhibit Customization Comes in All Shapes and Sizes

When I first speak with a new client about what they want in a new tradeshow exhibit, it usually comes down to one of two approaches. Either they want to start from scratch, in a sense, and have a good idea of the potential layout and scope of the exhibit, and they have a budget number in mind. Or, and this is the other extreme, they want to pick out a kit from our catalog and make do, mainly to save budget dollars.

There’s nothing wrong with either approach. Every company has a different agenda when it comes to a new exhibit.

The former approach means everything is custom from the git-go. A designer is brought in, conversations are had about brand attributes and guidelines, and the designer is basically turned loose. These are typically the bigger budget projects where, from the start, the designer is encouraged to cut loose, to try several approaches and show a number of structures with different traffic flow patterns, demo areas, meeting areas and so on. From that, the client decides on one (or two) that work best for them, and the design is refined until it’s ready.

The other approach, where the client is typically working with a more limited budget, starts with a kit from our Exhibit Design Search at TradeshowBuy.com. More often than not, the client believes that the kit as shown in the renderings is the final design.

That rarely happens. Once the conversation starts, the questions begin. Can we add a counter? What about shelves? We need shelves. And something to sit at. And that panel isn’t big enough, what if we made it bigger.

The answers are yes, yes, and yes. Kits get customized, almost all the time. With new clients, there is a bit of a learning curve, but once they realize that even if they start with a kit, that doesn’t mean they’re stuck with everything that’s show. Kits are good starting points to get what clients really want, which is most often a customized version.

A good thing to keep in mind when starting from scratch, especially if your budget is pointing you in the direction of a kit. That kit can be revised, reduced or enlarged in size, configured to fit in more than one final setup (10×10, 10×20, 10×30 for example). Accessories can be added, freestanding graphics or tables can become a part. And those additions don’t have to be out of the catalog, either. Often a client will have custom-built tables that include their logo and additional lighting effects to make them stand out.

If you’re shopping for a new exhibit in 2021 and your budget is pointing you towards something out of a catalog, starting with a kit makes sense. But you don’t have to (and probably won’t) stay there.

December 15, 2020

End of Year Price Drops

The tradeshow and event industry has been gasping for air for months and months. Exhibitors are putting off investing in new exhibits while wondering if they’re even going to appear at any shows in 2021.

In steps Classic Exhibits, our main exhibit manufacturer, with a little help: a price drop on safety dividers and rental! Not to mention, a trio of eco-friendly sustainable exhibits: a 10×10, a 10×20 and a 2020 island. Let’s take a look. Click to enlarge. Find the links below to download the PDFs.

November 19, 2020

What’s New in Exhibit Design Search: Video

Our online exhibit-finder, Exhibit Design Search, would be hard-pressed to get much better. It’s chock-full of 1000s of exhibits, rental furniture, accessories, helpful article, photos and much more.

Yet it keeps improving. Over the last few months a few new things have made their way onto the site at TradeshowBuy.com, including virtual exhibits, interactive exhibits, protective shields and more. Take a look:

September 29, 2020

Limited-Time Rental and Sales Offers Appear

We’ve worked with Classic Exhibits for nearly a couple of decades, even before TradeshowGuy Exhibits was a thing. Which means we know the quality of their work, and their attention to detail and pleasing the customer. They will occasionally put things on sale above and beyond their “Lightning Deals,” which appear on Exhibit Design Search all the time at TradeshowBuy.com.

This time around, it’s a price cut on safety dividers and – in looking ahead to 2021 – free accessories for exhibit rentals for next year, which includes free hand sanitizer stations if the deal is reached prior to November 15th, 2020.

Take a look:

For more details, check the links below.

RE-9128 – Island Rental Exhibit

RE-2110 Light Box – 20′ x 8

Safety Dividers – plenty to choose from

August 21, 2020

How to Find a Whole Lot of Tradeshow Marketing Tips (Video)

With tradeshow marketing on the sidelines, now is as good a time as any to brush up on your tradeshow marketing skill and knowledge. And here’s a great place to find a whole lot of tradeshow marketing tips – all in one place, and all worth their weight in gold. Check out this short under-three-minute video:

Find all of these tips at TradeshowBuy.com!

June 23, 2020

New Galleries on Exhibit Design Search at TradeshowBuy.com

Our main exhibit design and fabricator, Classic Exhibits, offers up four new galleries with what looks like a significant addition to Exhibit Design Search. Here are the four new galleries:

PlaceLyft Office Solutions
Hand Sanitizer Stands
Office/Retail Lightboxes
Safety Dividers

There’s also a new Interactive Gallery, further down the front page. I asked Mel White, VP of Marketing and Business Development with Classic Exhibits, to characterize the changes:

COVID-19 has forced most businesses to review their work environments as they plan for their employees to return. What they’ve realized is that most, if not all offices or retail spaces, do not protect employees from airborne or surface viruses. Deciding on next steps, however, can be confusing (and expensive) for many organizations.
The Contemporary Office and Retail Solutions galleries in EDS are designed to make those decisions easier. The four galleries show attractive and cost-effective solutions for any office or retail environment. They include office partitions with easily sanitize-able surfaces, protective safety barriers, durable hand sanitizer stands, and customizable LED lightboxes. There are no hidden prices, and the designs can be customized to any situation.
All the products are designed, engineered, and manufactured in the USA by a 27-year old Portland-based company.

Check out a brief look at the layout here, or by visiting TradeshowBuy.com:

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Rental Tradeshow Exhibit

Consumer Preferences and Market Dynamics

Industry Insights